The More Children You Have the More Likely You Are to Smoke? Evidence from Vietnam

There is no doubt that parental smoking can cause health problems for children. It is expected that parents who are aware of the harmful effect of secondhand smoke would decrease parental smoking when having more children. Yet, using instrumental variable regressions and data from the 2006 and 2008 Vietnam Household Living Standard Surveys , we find a very strongly positive and significant effect of the number of children on the probability of households smoking tobacco in Vietnam. Having an additional child increases the probability of households consuming tobacco by approximately 15 percent. These findings imply low awareness levels regarding the harmful effects of secondhand smoke on children " s health in Vietnam and indicate the need for policy action that disseminates knowledge on the harmful effects of smoking.